Napoleon’s War in Navarra (1808-1814)The War of the Spanish Independence is one of the milestones of the Spanish history. In those years a new society emerged which rejected the institutions of the Old Regime. In Navarra the people’s insurrection burst out in Estella and Tudela in July 1808, triggered by the support given by general Palafox from Saragossa. The control of Tudela was essential for the French, who wanted to rule the mid-Ebro valley and Saragossa. After crushing the armed resistance, the French occupied the whole territory of Navarra, bringing the old Reign of Navarra to an end. The administration of the Reign was replaced by a French-style administration. In spite of this, this institutional change consolidated as late as 1810. This is when Navarra separated from the authority of Joseph I and was put under the direct ruleof Napoleon through the French generals who occupied the respective Navarra military authorities. The institutions of the Reign of Navarra were restored when Fernando VII was back on the throne.

Italians and the War of the Spanish Independence: a methodological incursion in the Princeton papers of viceroy EugenioThis study focuses on a battle fought by the troops of the Reign of Italy during the war of the Spanish Independence in Catalonia. The aim is to discuss why, from a methodological point of view, the sole use of veterans’ memories, especially Antonio Lissoni’s and Camillo Vacani’s writings, is not enough for an accurate reconstruction of facts (even if they are compared with the documents from the Ministero della Guerra fund of the Milan State Archives), due to the varying degree of rhetorical emphasis used by the various authors. In particular, this bias complicates the analysis of military effectiveness and requires comparing all available sources. To this end, the documents from the Beauharnais Collection, stored in the Manuscripts Division of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections of the University of Princeton (New Jersey) have been used. The peculiarity of this documentary source, which is hardly consulted at all by historians — especially European — is that it contains the point of view of the viceroy, for whom the analysis of military effectiveness was a priority. The study shows that the comparison of all available sources can contribute to trace back their genesis and assess their reliability.

Women and militancy in Spanish anarchism (1931-1936)The article analyzes the militant participation of anarchist women in the organizations where their presence was most significant during the Spanish Second Republic: CNT, Juventudes Libertarias, FAI and the Libertarian Universities. Relying on oral sources, the study explores the stories of their lives, the reasons for the scant presence of women in confederate Trade Unions and their preference for Libertarian Universities. At the same time and as a result of their involvement in the activities of these groups, these militant women came in contact with anarchist groups and joined Juventudes Libertarias, FAI and Mujeres Libres.

After Mussolini and the king: the Francoist perspective on republican and postfascist Italy (1945-1953)Despite the fall of Mussolini and the demise of Fascism, Italy remained a focus of significant attention for part of the Francoist «intellectual infantry»: journalists, reporters, columnists, etc., took up the role of interpreting the world according to the Francoist ideology. The Francoist regime was able to learn useful lessons from the great Italian post-war events — the referendum on monarchy, the 1948 and 1953 elections — for the history of Spain and its intellectuals were able to interpret them correctly, identifying similarities between the 1948 polls and the 1931 or 1933 elections of the Second Republic, the defeats of Communism, etc.

From July 18 to September 14, 1936: how the Holy Seat changed course on the Spanish Civil warThe article examines the stance of the Holy Seat on the Spanish Civil war, day by day from July 18 to September 14, 1936, by analyzing “L’Osservatore romano” newspaper, Cardinal Gomá’s reports and Archivio Segreto Vaticano (ASV) documents concerning the information coming from the Madrid Nunciature, from other diplomatic channels and from the clergymen who escaped persecution. In particular, it reveals that from August 15 the pope expressed the intention, subsequently abandoned on August 28-29, to tackle the tragic Spanish events with a Letter to the Secretary of State, whose three versions found are examined. In this letter the Pope, while vigorously deploring violence, did not side with either of the warring parties and even invoked the cessation of hostilities. The pope publicly dealt with the Spanish Civil war in the Castel Gandolfo allocution of September 14, in which he changed his original stance. Acomparison between the initial position and the text of the Castel Gandolfo speech show for the first time that it marked a dramatic turning point both because it expressed support to the insurgents and because it no longer invoked the cessation of hostilities.